Chinese–Indonesian Culinary Acculturation
Bandeng (milkfish), which has countless bones (Fujian dialect, Ban Deng “thousands of bones”) served whole, is accorded some significance by all family members in welcoming the New Year, notwithstanding their thorny life
Wearing Chinese costumes, staff at The Petals restaurant prepare to serve traditional Chinese New Year dishes on Thursday (8/2/2019) at the Senayan City shopping mall in Jakarta. Among the dishes served was Yu Sheng, the famous tossed salad that is staple fare on the holiday.
The seasonal sale of Imlek (Chinese New Year) milkfish again enlivened Jl. Sulaiman in Rawa Belong, Jakarta, on Wednesday (22/1/2020). This pond milkfish is only harvested once a year, especially prepared for Imlek and sold at Rp65,000-Rp80,000 per kilogram depending on its quality. Traders in Rawa Belong said this year’s supply was decreasing because a number of milkfish ponds had been flooded. Milkfish prices have risen by around Rp10,000-Rp15,000 per kilogram over the 2019 rates. The milkfish most in demand was that weighing 2 kg. But some people also bought jumbo milkfish weighing up to 10 kg.
Stalls in West Jakarta were selling big milkfish of more than 1 kg to residents to mark Chinese New Year, which fell on Saturday (25/1/2020).